Minister of Civil Aviation, Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday assured that Air India’s disinvestment will not face any deterrents this time as the interest expressed by prospective buyers has been reassuring.
He shared that the government’s interests lie in Air India continuing to fly as a brand for years to come.
“Don’t ever be under the impression that this time around, there will be any problems (in disinvestment). There will not be. The amount of interest I am seeing in the acquisition and the quarters from where I am seeing it, I am reassured.”
Hardeep Singh Puri ,Minister of Civil Aviation of India
The minister also extended his support to the employees at Air India by assuring that their requirements would be foremost in the airline and factored in whatever arrangement is decided with the successor.
A Preliminary Information Memorandum was issued a few weeks ago for Air India’s stake sale,where the government had stated that the brand name would have to kept as it is by the future owner.
With respect to the issues concerning staff appointments, he said that “Somebody asks what will happen to the staff. The staff will be required by whoever will be the new entity managing or owning it. There has been no recruitment for how many years. There is no surplus staff,” he said.
A multitude of employee unions of Air India in the last few months had expressed uncertainty about their future as the government continued to go ahead with the stake sale plan.
“Whoever are the eligible bidders, the requirement of the staff the people who run the airline would be foremost,” the minister said.
Addressing the concerns of employees, he said, “Your good work is not only being appreciated but will also be factored into the successor arrangement which will come in after this.”
